Opinion: In the hospital supply chain, too many choices can be costly

STAT November 19, 2019
Chuck Peck

Not long ago, I did a small experiment at a hospital in Texas: I put out six different surgical trays representing the preferred set of instruments for six different surgeons, all of them performing the same laparoscopic procedure.

The trays were all a little different, as was the cost of their contents, which ranged from $1,800 up to $3,400. Yet the outcome of each operation was the same. Once the surgeons saw the instruments they and their colleagues used, they agreed that the least-expensive set was as good as any other.

The company I work for, Navigant, recently published its annual analysis of supply chain costs in more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals. As in past years, it showed that hospitals...

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